Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Honeysuckle Rose) Andy Razaf ï¿½Honeysuckle Roseï¿½ was introduced as a dance number in the 1929 revue, Load of Coal, at Connieï¿½s Inn in Harlem by its composer, Thomas ï¿½Fatsï¿½ Waller. ï¿½Honeysuckle Roseï¿½ and ï¿½ Ainï¿½t Misbehavinï¿½ ,ï¿½ also written that year for the musical revue Hot Chocolates, would become the two most enduring compositions born of the longtime collaboration of Waller and lyricist Andy Razaf.

Other songs in Waller and Razafï¿½s Load of Coal score included the wistful ï¿½My Fate Is in Your Handsï¿½ and ï¿½Zonky.ï¿½ The oddly titled ï¿½Zonkyï¿½ was a song about a dance written in the spirit of ï¿½Walking the Dogï¿½ or ï¿½Balling the Jack.ï¿½ The song warns the listener ï¿½Other dances, they may come and go but when you learn the Zonky you will want it to stay.ï¿½ According to the Kennedy Centerï¿½s website page, ï¿½A Place Called Harlem,ï¿½ Connieï¿½s Inn was a Harlem speakeasy that featured song and dance revues. Found at the intersection of 131st Street and 7th Avenue it was second in popularity only to the Cotton Club. The owners eventually opened the originally segregated club to blacks who were allowed to patronize the club after the whites had gone home.

Fats Waller was in good company at Connieï¿½s Inn, at least with regard to other performers which included the likes of Duke Ellington , Fletcher Henderson , and Ethel Waters . Fats Waller - Biography - IMDb Fats Waller Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (7) | Personal Quotes (2) Overview (4) 6' (1.83 m) Mini Bio (1) Thomas Waller was born in 1904. He was one of the most important pianist in the history of jazz. He studied piano with James P. Johnson , one of the masters of the stride piano in the 1920s. Fats began recording his first piano solos in 1923. He worked in the revue "Hot Chocolates" in the late 1920s as a composer. Along with Duke Ellington , he is one of the most prolific composers in jazz. His best songs are, "Ain't Misbehavin' ", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Black and Blue", "Blue Turned Grey Over You" and "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now".

He formed his own group in 1934, Fats Waller and his Rhythm, and recorded many records for RCA Victor. Two of his most notable film appearances were in Stormy Weather (1943) and King of Burlesque (1936). He died in 1943 on a train during a trip to California. He was just 39 years old. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Eric Nesich (christyjazz45). Trivia (7) Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989. Jazz pianist and vocalist. Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith . So popular was he that one evening in Chicago in 1926, he was kidnapped by four henchmen and driven to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. He found out he was the "surprise entertainment" for Capone's birthday party! His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds. His weight and extreme drinking habits are believed to been contributors to his death.

Waller died of pneumonia aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a West Coast engagement. Son of a Baptist minister. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Personal Quotes (2) Fats Waller — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm fats waller Fats Waller (Thomas Wright Waller, May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. His greatest success came with " Fats Waller & his Rhythm ". Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children, born in New York to Adeline Locket Waller and Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age… read more Fats WALLER "Honeysuckle Rose" !!! - YouTube Fats WALLER "Honeysuckle Rose" !!! Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content.

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 5, 2014 RARE OLDIES SOUNDIES WITH MR FATS WALLER !!! Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 -- December 15, 1943) was an influential jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano, and whose best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1984 and 1999. Category “Ain’t Misbehavin” – Fats Waller 🎹🎼 | iheartfilm Dedicated to movie lovers everywhere!

“Ain’t Misbehavin” – Fats Waller 🎹🎼 Posted by donnamarie on Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) “Ain’t Misbehavin” is a musical tribute to the incomparable, Fats Waller. It originated at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre on May 9, 1978. The original cast included: Nell Carter , André DeShields , Armelia McQueen , Ken Page , and Charlayne Woodard . It ran for 1604 performances and closed on February 21, 1982. The book was by – Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr. , and music by various composers and lyricists as arranged and orchestrated by Luther Henderson . It won the Tony Award for Best Musical. On June 12, 1982, NBC broadcast the revue with the original Broadway cast and that’s what this post is about and how I experienced the production, which blew me away!

Fats Waller songs are classic and give a jumpin’ snapshot of the 1920’s and 1930’s with the cast so brilliantly bringing his songs to life. His signature song was “Ain’t Misbehavin” which is the opening number for the 1982 production. Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano, and whose best-known compositions, “Ain’t Misbehavin ‘ ” and “Honeysuckle Rose”, were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999. “Ain’t Misbehavin” was a feature number in the acclaimed 1943 film “Stormy Weather” . Some of my favorite songs from the NBC production are: “Ain’t Misbehavin”, “The Joint is Jumpin”, and the hilarious”Your Feet’s too Big”.

There were plenty of awards for the 1978 production of “Ain’t Misbehavin” including: Fats Waller | Wiki Jazz | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of eleven children (five survived childhood) born to Adeline Locket Waller and Reverend Edward Martin Waller in New York City . He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. His mother instructed him as a youth. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem 's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag . Waller's first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues") were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old. He was the prize pupil, and later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson .

Edit Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters.[ citation needed ] In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it.[ citation needed ] Waller ultimately became one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as " Honeysuckle Rose ", " Ain't Misbehavin' " and " Squeeze Me ". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz ". [2 ] Waller is believed to have composed many novelty tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for relatively small sums, [3 ] the attributions of which, on becoming widely known, went only to a later composer and lyricist.[ citation needed ] Standards alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller include " I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby ".

Biographer Barry Singer conjectured that this jazz classic was written by Waller and lyricist Andy Razaf , and provides a description of the sale given by Waller to the NY Post in 1929—for $500, to a white songwriter, ultimately for use in a financially successful show (consistent with Jimmy McHugh's contributions first to Harry Delmar’s Revels, 1927, and then toBlackbirds, 1928). [3 ] [4 ] He further supports the conjecture, noting that early handwritten manuscripts in the Dana Library Institute of Jazz Studies of “Spreadin’ Rhythm Around” (Jimmy McHugh ©1935) are in Waller's hand; anecdotally, there is an account that when near death from cancer in the early 1970s, Razaf whispered the favorite of all his lyrics as being the chorus of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” [3 ] [5 ] Jazz historian P.S. Machlin comments that the Singer conjecture has "considerable [historical] justification".

[6 ] Waller's son Maurice wrote in his 1977 biography of his father that Waller had once complained on hearing the song, and came from upstairs to admonish him never to play it in his hearing because he'd had to sell it when he needed money.[ citation needed ] Maurice Waller's biography similarly notes his father's objections to hearing " On the Sunny Side of the Street " playing on the radio. [7 ] Waller recorded "I Can't Give You…" in 1938, playing the tune but making fun of the lyrics; the recording was with Adelaide Hall who had introduced the song to the world at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in 1928. [8 ] The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA Victor album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new songs, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf . Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody... a man who made the piano sing... both big in body and in mind... known for his generosity...

a bubbling bundle of joy".[ citation needed ] Gene Sedric , a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration: "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number." You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me MENU 0:00 You Got Everything A Sweet Mama Needs But Me, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.---- Problems playing this file? See media help . 'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do MENU 0:00 'tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do, sung by Sara Martin with piano accompaniment by Fats Waller in 1922.---- Problems playing this file? See media help .

Waller played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin , to Erskine Tate , Fletcher Henderson , McKinney's Cotton Pickers and Adelaide Hall , but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm". His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone . Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters did not intend to kill him. It is rumored that Waller stayed at the Hawthorne Inn for three days and left very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.

[9 ] In 1926, Waller began his recording association with Victor Records , his principal record company for the rest of his life, with the organ solos " St. Louis Blues " and his own composition, "Lenox Avenue Blues". Although he recorded with various groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest interracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his own compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin'", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929). After sessions with Ted Lewis (1931), Jack Teagarden (1931) and Billy Banks ' Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934 the voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm.

This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell , and Al Casey . Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", " Ain't Misbehavin' " (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), " Honeysuckle Rose " (1929) and " Jitterbug Waltz " (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf . He composed stride piano display pieces such as " Handful of Keys ", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag".[ citation needed ] He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC television broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood .

He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably Stormy Weather in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show Hot Chocolates, he and Razaf wrote " (What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue " (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong . Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre- bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances. Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full-sized church organ. Edit Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross-country train trip near Kansas City , Missouri , on December 15, 1943. His final recording session was with an interracial group in Detroit , Michigan , that included white trumpeter Don Hirleman .

Waller was returning to New York City from Los Angeles, after the smash success ofStormy Weather, and after a successful engagement at the Zanzibar Room, during which he had fallen ill. [10 ] Coincidentally, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis Armstrong on board.[ citation needed ] More than 4,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem, which prompted Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. , who delivered the eulogy, to say that Fats Waller “always played to a packed house.” [11 ] Afterwards he was cremated and his ashes were scattered, from an airplane piloted by an unidentified World War I black aviator, over Harlem. [12 ] Revival and awards[ edit ] Edit A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter , won Tony Awards .) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for more than 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988.

Performed by five African-American actors, the show included such songs as " Honeysuckle Rose ", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and " Ain't Misbehavin' ". Year Inducted by the Library of Congress in 2004. Probably the most talented pianist to keep the music of "Fats" Waller alive in the years after his death was Ralph Sutton , who focused his career on playing stride piano. Sutton was a great admirer of Waller, saying "I've never heard a piano man swing any better than Fats - or swing a band better than he could. I never get tired of him. Fats has been with me from the first, and he'll be with me as long as I live." [14 ] Actor and band leader Conrad Janis also did a lot to keep the stride piano music of "Fats" Waller and James P. Johnson alive. In 1949, as an 18-year-old, Janis put together a band of aging jazz greats, consisting of James P.

Johnson (piano), Henry Goodwin (trumpet), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Pops Foster (bass) and Baby Dodds (drums), with Janis on trombone. [15 ] In popular culture[ edit ] Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin' (1929) - YouTube Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin' (1929) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jun 15, 2015 Thomas 'Fats' Waller (May 21,1904 - Dec.15,1943) born Thomas Wright Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. Fats Waller started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag.

Waller's first piano solos (Muscle Shoals Blues and Birmingham Blues) were recorded in October 1922 when he was just 18 years old. He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter, and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz". Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 30s, and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

Fats Waller - Ain't Misbehavin' (1929) Category Fats Waller’s Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm Listeners Biography Fats Waller (Thomas Wright Waller, May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. His greatest success came with " Fats Waller & his Rhythm ". Thomas Wright Waller was the youngest of four children, born in New York to Adeline Locket Waller and Reverend Edward Martin Waller. He started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag. Waller's first piano solos ("Muscle Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues") were recorded in October 1922 when he was 18 years old. He was the prize pupil, and later friend and colleague, of stride pianist James P. Johnson .

Fats Waller was the son of a preacher and learned to play the organ in church with his mother. Overcoming opposition from his clergyman father, Waller became a professional pianist at 15, working in cabarets and theaters. In 1918 he won a talent contest playing Johnson's "Carolina Shout", a song he learned from watching a player piano play it. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz". Waller composed many novelty tunes in the 1920s and 1930s and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

Waller's son Maurice wrote in his 1977 biography of his father, that once he was playing "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" when he heard his father complaining from upstairs and came down and admonished him never to play that song in his hearing, saying that he had to sell that song when he needed some money. He even made a recording of it in 1938 with Adelaide Hall who, coincidentally, had introduced the song to the world (at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in 1928), in which he played the tune but made fun of the lyrics. Likewise, Maurice noted his father's objections whenever he heard "On the Sunny Side of the Street" played on the radio. The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album Handful of Keys state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new songs, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. Razaf described his partner as "the soul of melody… a man who made the piano sing… both big in body and in mind… known for his generosity… a bubbling bundle of joy".

Gene Sedric, a clarinetist who played with Waller on some of his 1930s recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration: "Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio, and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number." Waller played with many performers, from Nat Shilkret (on Victor 21298-A) and Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm". His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play.

A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters did not intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips. In 1926, Waller began his recording association with Victor Records, his principal record company for the rest of his life, with the organ solos "St. Louis Blues" and his own composition, "Lenox Avenue Blues". Although he recorded with various groups, including Morris's Hot Babes (1927), Fats Waller's Buddies (1929) (one of the earliest interracial groups to record), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929), his most important contribution to the Harlem stride piano tradition was a series of solo recordings of his own compositions: "Handful of Keys", "Smashing Thirds", "Numb Fumblin'", and "Valentine Stomp" (1929).

After sessions with Ted Lewis (1931), Jack Teagarden (1931), and Billy Banks's Rhythmakers (1932), he began in May 1934 the voluminous series of recordings with a small band known as Fats Waller and his Rhythm. This six-piece group usually included Herman Autrey (sometimes replaced by Bill Coleman or John "Bugs" Hamilton), Gene Sedric or Rudy Powell, and Al Casey. Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. He composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag". He enjoyed success touring the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1930s. He appeared in one of the first BBC broadcasts.

While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Abbey Road Studios in St John's Wood. He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released July 21, just months before his death. For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong. Waller performed Bach organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). In addition to his playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances. Between 1926 and the end of 1927, Waller recorded a series of pipe organ solo records. These represent the first time syncopated jazz compositions were performed on a full sized church organ.

Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943, after making a final recording session with an interracial group in Detroit that included white trumpeter Don Hirleman. He was on his way back to Hollywood for more film work, after the smash success of "Stormy Weather". Coincidentally, as the train with the body of Waller stopped in Kansas City, so stopped a train with his dear friend Louis Armstrong on board. Revival and awards No upcoming performances found About Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an influential American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano, and whose best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1984 and 1999.

Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an influential American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer, whose innovations to the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano, and whose best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1984 and 1999. URL already in use Fats Waller F Fats Waller Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) born Thomas Wright Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer. He was the youngest of four children born to Adaline Locket Waller, wife of the Reverend Edward Martin Waller. Significance Fats Waller started playing the piano when he was six and graduated to the organ of his father's church four years later. At the age of fourteen he was playing the organ at Harlem's Lincoln Theater and within twelve months he had composed his first rag.

Waller's first piano solos (Muscle Shoals Blues and Birmingham Blues) were recorded in October 1922 when he was just 18 years old. He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter, and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz ". Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 30s, and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

The anonymous sleeve notes on the 1960 RCA (UK) album 'Handful of Keys' state that Waller copyrighted over 400 new tunes, many of which co-written with his closest collaborator Andy Razaf. After Waller's death in 1943, Razaf described his partner as 'the soul of melody....a man who made the piano sing...both big in body and in mind...known for his generosity...a bubbling bundle of joy'. Gene Sedric, a clarinettist who played with Waller on some of his 1930's recordings, is quoted in these same sleeve notes recalling Waller's recording technique with considerable admiration. 'Fats was the most relaxed man I ever saw in a studio', he said, 'and so he made everybody else relaxed. After a balance had been taken, we'd just need one take to make a side, unless it was a kind of difficult number'. Musical contributions Waller was a much copied jazz pianist and improvisor, and he was considered one of the best stride style players. His touch varied from subtle and extremely light to very powerful, and he was a master of dynamics and tension and release.

However, it was Waller's singing, songwriting, and lovable, roguish stage personality that sold his hundreds of recordings for Victor Records. He played with many performers, from Gene Austin to Erskine Tate to Adelaide Hall, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo , "Fats Waller and his Rhythm." His playing once put him at risk of injury. Waller was kidnapped in Chicago leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by gangster Al Capone . Fats was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towards a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realized he was the "surprise guest" at Al Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters didn't intend to kill him. According to rumor, Waller played for three days. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.

Waller wrote "Squeeze Me" (1919), "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929), "Blue Turning Grey Over You", "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" (1929), "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (1942). He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf. Waller also composed stride piano display pieces such as "Handful of Keys", "Valentine Stomp" and "Viper's Drag." His songs have become standards of the jazz repertoire. He enjoyed success touring United Kingdom and Ireland in the late 1930s, and appeared in one of the first BBC Television broadcasts. While in Britain, Waller also recorded a number of songs for EMI on their Compton Theatre organ located in their Studios in St John's Wood, London . He appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943, which was released only months before his death.

For the hit Broadway show, "Hot Chocolates", he and Razaf wrote "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" (1929), which became a hit for Ethel Waters and Louis Armstrong . This searing treatment of racism refutes the early criticism of Waller that his creations and performances were "shallow entertainment". Waller was an accomplished composer and performer due to his classical keyboard studies. He performed [Bach] organ pieces for small groups on occasion. Waller influenced many pre-bop jazz pianists; Count Basie and Erroll Garner have both reanimated his hit songs (notably, "Ain't Misbehavin'"). Today, Dick Hyman, Mike Lipskin, Louis Mazatier and other jazz pianists perform in the Waller idiom. Although the stride style, like all jazz, must be learned primarily by ear, many scholars have transcribed his brilliant improvisations from old recordings and radio broadcasts, in sheet music form. Pianist and keyboard professor Paul Posnak has produced transcriptions of 16 of Waller's greatest solos that are published by Hal Leonard. Posnak performs this music in concert.

In addition to his virtuosic playing, Waller was known for his many quips during his performances, including:- "One never knows, do one?" ... "No lady, we can't haul your ashes for 25 cents, that's bad business" ... "Mercy!" ... "Well, all right then!" ... "I wonder what the poor people are doing - I'd love to be doing it with them!" ... "Run in and stab me, but don't bruise me!" ... "Wot's da matta wit DAT?!" ... and - of a large lady vocalist - "All that meat and no potatoes!" Waller contracted pneumonia and died on a cross-country train trip near Kansas City, Missouri on December 15, 1943. Upon arrival at Kansas City, word of Waller's demise immediately spread throughout the station and onto another train headed west. On that train was Louis Armstrong, who, upon hearing the news, cried for hours.

Grammy Hall of Fame Recordings of Fats Waller were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance." Revival and posthumous awards A Broadway musical revue showcasing Waller tunes entitled Ain't Misbehavin' was produced in 1978. (The show and a star of the show, Nell Carter, won Tony Awards for the show.) The show opened at the Longacre Theatre and ran for over 1600 performances. It was revived on Broadway in 1988. Performed by five African American actors, it included such songs as "Honeysuckle Rose", "This Joint Is Jumpin'", and "Ain't Misbehavin'". Waller's music is featured in the 2008 movie Be Kind Rewind. In popular culture Referenced in the 1979 movie The Muppet Movie.

Referenced in Robert Pinsky's poem "History of My Heart." Subject of the Irish poet Michael Longley's "Elegy for Fats Waller." In the 1984 film The Natural, one of the baseball players sings "Honeysuckle Rose" in the shower. An episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway had Wayne Brady perform as Fats Waller doing the ad-libbed safari-themed song "Lion Nibblin' On My Toes". His organ music is prominently featured in the David Lynch cult hit, Eraserhead. A part of Alligator Crawl is featured during the "Intermission" sequences of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The 2008 film Be Kind Rewind features a young man played by Mos Def who believes Fats Waller was born in the Passaic, New Jersey building that now houses the video shop where he works. He brings his neighbors together to make a wildly inaccurate "documentary" film celebrating the spirit of Fats and of their community. However, Waller was not from nor had ever lived in Passaic. Bill Withers references Fats Waller in the song Soul Shadows.

He was caricatured in several Warner Brothers animated shorts, most notably Tin Pan Alley Cats For many years, the popular PBS show This Old House used a Fats Waller recording of "Louisiana Fairytale" as its theme music. (Wikipedia)

Question: Which jazz pianist and composer composed "Ain't Misbehavin"' and "Honeysuckle Rose"?
Answer: (Fats) WALLER